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    Jae Isa says that tailgating is driving extremely close to the car in front of you.  She feels that tailgating is unjustified and is morally wrong.  She believes that it is disrespectful and discourteous.  According to Ms. Isa, tailgating increases the probability of accidents, raises the issue of harassment, and infringes upon a person's privacy due to the personal space factor.  Therefore, she strongly feels that tailgating should be legally enforced to ensure safety on the road.  She goes on to say that tailgating in any shape or form is an act of aggression with the intent to hurt.  Thus, there is nothing good that will come out of tailgating.
    Ms. Isa did not include her personal experience with being tailgated or tailgating therefore the three domains can not be examined.  However it is very clear that Ms. Isa is against tailgating and feels that it should not be done.

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Nancee Aki, G2

    In Nancee Aki's self witnessing report she found herself tailgating mostly when she was late for an appointment or for school.   She does this to push slow drivers in front of her to drive faster and she finds this very effective.  This situation will be put  into the three domains:  she felt stressed/worried (FEELINGS) because she was late for school, she thought if she could push the other driver to speed up, it will get her to school faster (THOUGHTS), so she tailgates (ACTIONS) the other driver.  Her tailgating behavior gets worse when someone on the road gets her mad.   She says that it brings out the monster in her.  However, there were also times when she finds herself following too close to a care without knowing it due to daydreaming and lack of attention to the road.  What made her realize this was the wake up call of braking really fast when the car in front of her suddenly stops.  She believes that tailgating gives her a sense of power and control.  Yet on the other hand she realizes that it is dangerous and will try to be a more patient and courteous driver.

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Ryan Mitsui, G4

    Ryan Mitsui shared an experience when he tailgated a car.   It was to punish the driver for coming up behind him really fast and then at the last second cutting into the next lane.  In his tailgating experience, he was so mad (FEELINGS) because the "fucken ass hole" was almost going to bang him so he thinks it will make him feel better if he punishes him for it (THOUGHTS)  therefore, he tailgates the person (ACTIONS).  After the hot 75 mph pursuit and numerous lane changes Mr. Mitsui finally came to his senses and realized that it was stupid and he could really have gotten hurt and even die.
    He continues to say that he only tailgates when people do it to him first.  However with this in mind, he is not justifying tailgating.  To him it's a personal thing and he has to work on it because he knows that it is wrong to tailgate.  Now when people tailgates Mr. Mitsui, he no longer gets mad (FEELINGS) because he doesn't let it bother him (THOUGHTS) therefore he no longer tailgate (ACTIONS) them back.

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Kathy Teruya, G6

    Kathy Teruya admits to tailgating but she herself  REALLY hates being tailgated.  This is due to a really bad experience she had back in January 10, 1996.   Since everyone was trying to get onto the freeway, many drivers including Ms. Teruya felt a need not to let anyone into the lane.  This leads to very little necessary stopping space between cars (this is considered tailgating).  When there was a sudden need to stop, Ms. Teruya barely stopped in time, the van behind her barley stopped in time, but unfortunately the car behind the van was not so lucky.  BAM, BAM, BAM, four car accident, $4574.92 in damages to Ms. Teruya alone.  Now she always gets nervous when someone tailgates her.  She trust her reflexes but she can't trust the person behind her.
    With this bad experience in mind one would think not to tailgate but not Ms. Teruya.  She claims that it is a different story when SHE tailgates.  Despite this hypocrisy she is now more self aware.  She would feel offended and angry (FEELINGS) of someone cuts her off.  She thinks that she was justified in maintaining lane integrity, she thought she was right (THOUGHTS).  Therefore she tailgated the person (ACTIONS).  Oh well, easier said than done!
 
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 Holly Ishikawa, G8
 
    Holly Ishikawa admits to being a tailgator.  She purposely tailgates when she is in a rush, when someone cuts her off, or when someone drives too slow in front of her.  However, at times she also finds herself  unconsciously tailgating because she was either daydreaming or not paying attention to the road.  Ms. Ishikawa performed a mini-mini experiment that focused on the three domains of her tailgating behavior.  On day one of  the experiment she was faced with driver who she thought was driving too slow in the passing lane (THOUGHTS).  She felt upset and impatient (FEELINGS) because she felt the driver was inconsiderate and driving slow to spite her.  Therefore she tailgated him for a while (ACTIONS) and then changed lanes.  On day two of her experiment she was driving her boyfriend's car.  She was again faced with the same situation of a slow driver in the passing lane.  She felt upset and impatient (FEELINGS) but since she was driving her boyfriend's car she thought that she needed to be responsible driver (THOUGHTS) therefore she did not tailgate (ACTIONS).
    Despite the fact that Ms. Ishikawa tailgates, she believes that it is morally, ethically, and spiritually wrong.  She feels that it cannot be justified in any way.  Her mini-mini experiment really helped her realize that there is a choice whether to tailgate or not to tailgate another driver.  It is up to the individual to decide to either stress over it or get out of it.

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Is tailgating fair?
    Tailgating is not fair.  But then again what is fair in life?  Nothing is fair, only if we live in a perfect place would we find fairness.  The reality of it is that we don't and therefore we need to deal with it, not dwell on it.  The way  we deal with it is important.  We live in a reality where people have their own individual needs and wants, so their goal is to accomplish it.  What counts as fair is that if  they do it in a way where there will be no harm done to the other.  But in most cases people are so distracted by their own needs and wants that they fail to realize their are others involved.  This is where the unfairness comes into play.  It is unfair for the person being tailgated because now their life is in danger.

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Is tailgating justifiable?
    I feel that it is justifiable in some situations.  When we are not doing it on purpose due to difference in judgment of closeness, I feel is justifiable.  I was faced with this situation and many others have as well.  To me driving has been sort of "automatic" and "second nature" that I don't see it as following too close.  I know how much I need to stop without hitting the car in front of me.  Also I feel that when their is heavy traffic we are forced to tailgate because we need to fit as much cars on the freeway as possible.  To me, it is like making full use of our road space.  Everyone needs to get to where they want to go and if there is space between cars, people will use it.
    On the other hand, when there is an intent to coerce or punish, it is unjustifiable.  We need to share the road and being a big bully on the road is not the way to go.  To me it is sick to know that someone purposefully tailgates to harm another person.  That is just wrong and inconsiderate.  No one should coerce anyone, if they don't like the situation they are in get out of it.  If they have a need to get the person back for wronging you, tailgating is not the way to do it.

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Is tailgating spiritually wrong?
    I really can't see how the role of spirituality play on tailgating.  If it has to do with religion, I don't recall any of the teachings having a section on the effects tailgating to the spirit.  However, major religions do teach of practicing goodness and loving one another.  So if you see it in that light then, purposefully tailgating is spiritually wrong because it is with the intent to harm or coerce the other person.  In order for one to instill goodness, we need live or follow a path that is self-sacrificing.  As Dr. James said we need to act upon consideration.  That is what lies behind goodness, being considerate of others and putting that in front of one's own needs.

Is tailgating convenient and is no big deal?
    The reason why people still tailgate is because it is a convenient way of expressing oneself.  When someone does something wrong you want to tell them that you were affected by it.  It also is a way of making you feel better because you can lash out your frustration and anger.  When the person in front of you goes slow you want to communicate to them to speed it up or get out of the way.  A friend of mine who lives in Los Angeles told me the rule to driving in L.A. is to kill or be killed , it's your choice.  So in a sense it is convenient.  But is it no big deal?  Well to me it is a big deal because everyone is affected by it.  It should not be condoned because it is a dangerous act.
 
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